1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improvement in a surface-mount type light emitting diode, which has a substrate, a light emitting diode element provided on the substrate and a light permeable member for encapsulating the light emitting diode element, and is directly mounted on a surface of a mother board or the like, for example, and a method for manufacturing the surface-mount type light emitting diode.
2. Description of Related Art
FIG. 16 illustrates a schematic structure of a conventional surface-mount type light emitting diode referred to as a metal-film reflecting cup type. The surface-mount type light emitting diode of this kind is described on page 190 in “Electronic Display” written by Shoichi Matsumoto and published by Ohom Co., Ltd on Jul. 7, 1995, for example. The surface-mount type light emitting diode includes a substrate, cathode and anode electrode patterns 2 and 3 provided on the substrate 1, and a light emitting diode element 4 provided on the cathode electrode pattern 2 so as to electrically connect with it. The light emitting diode element 4 and the anode electrode pattern 3 are electrically connected through a bonding wire 5.
Moreover, a supporting member 6, for example, made of epoxy resin is provided on the substrate 1 at an outer peripheral portion thereof. The supporting member 6 has, at an inside thereof, an inclined reflecting surface 6a comprising a metal film, and, at an upper portion thereof, an opening 7. The opening 7 is encapsulated by a glass plate 8, for example.
In that kind of a surface-mount type light emitting diode, light emitted from side surfaces of the light emitting diode element 4 is reflected upwardly on the reflecting surface 6a and directed through the glass plate 8 to exterior.
However, in the above-mentioned surface-mount type light emitting diode, although a luminescence of light is increased by reflecting the emitted light from the side surfaces of the light emitting diode element 4 upwardly on the reflecting surface 6a, an optical reflectance on the reflecting surface 6a declines to a range of about 80 to 90 percent (%). Therefore, there is a loss in the reflection of light. Moreover, the reflecting surface 6a influenced by an environment may cause corrosion, if it is used over a long term, hence the reflective index of light tends to reduce. Therefore, there is a problem in reliability of the reflecting surface when it is used over a long term.